The Hoppings on Newcastle's town moor first took place in 1882 - and a new exhibition charts the story of the annual event - it will begin on Friday 16 June and ends on Saturday 24 June
It's 135 years since the Hoppings became an annual fixture on Tynside.
It originally started life in 1882 as a temperance fair at a time when Victorian do-gooders across the country chose to preach the virtues of being tee-total.
The event was then designed to a be counter-attraction to the boozy goings-on at the annual Race Week at nearby Newcastle Racecourse.
The event was an instant hit and a newspaper report from the time read: "On whatever part of the moor the eye rested, a moving mass of human beings was witnessed."
And this summer, The Discovery Museum is hosting an exhibition to celebrate the 135 years of the much-loved funfair which is annually held on Newcastle's Town Moor.
The museum's exhibition opens on Saturday, June 3, with a day of activities and events on a fairground theme, including's fairground rides one the plaza outside the mesuem (there will be a charge for the rides), carousel crafts and free balloos and stickers for the children.
As well as exploring the origins of the Hoppings, the exhibition will also look at the travellung way of life of the generations of showmen and their families who bring the Hoppings to Newcastle, including the language and phrases that they use sauch as: a 'flattie' (a member of the public), a 'gaff' (a busy airground); the 'gallopers' (a carousel featuring elaborately carved and painted galloping horses); and a 'living wagon' (a showman's caravan).
The name Hoppings is thought to derive from the hopping or dancing, that often happens at old fairs - but it was not until the 1950s that the Hoppings became the universally recognised title of the yearly Tyneside institution.
The First World War saw the fair move to Jesmond Dene between 1914-18. The end of hostilities saw its return to the Town Moor.
There were no Hoppings in the early 1920s but they returned in 1924, continuing through the years with a bumper record attendance in 1947.
A major feature of the exhibition will be more than 50 vintage working amusement machines, from What the Butler Saw (early moving pictures) to pinball and fruit machines, which visitors can play using old pennies which can be bought from the museum - five old pennies for £1.
Visitors will be able to find out about the history of fairground rides from the swing boats - called 'shuggy boats' in the North East, which were among the earliest of fairground rides, to later steam-operated rides and, of course, the waltzer.
The 2017 Hoppings runs from Friday June 16 to Saturday June 24 on Newcastle's Town Moor.